AUSTRALIA (CelebrityAccess) – The APRA board of writer and publisher directors will posthumously bestow the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music upon Rob Potts, the celebrated manager, promoter and country music champion, who passed away in 2017.
Over the course of a career spanning more than three decades, Potts served as booking agent to the likes of Keith Urban, Tommy Emmanuel, Lee Kernaghan and James Blundell, and guided the career of Warner Music Nashville’s Morgan Evans.
As a concert promoter and the CEO of Entertainment Edge, he toured some of the biggest names in U.S. country music across Australia including Zac Brown Band, Brooks & Dunn, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Alan Jackson, Florida Georgia Line, Toby Keith, Jason Aldean, Dixie Chicks and countless others. In 2009, he brought a pre-superstar Taylor Swift to Australia for her first shows in the market.
The success of his tours led to Potts establishing the CMC Rocks festival brand and forging a long-running partnership with Michael Chugg’s Chugg Entertainment. Their flagship CMC Rocks Queensland is now the biggest country music festival in the southern hemisphere.
Prior to his death, Potts also launched FANGATE Music, a joint label with Sony Music Entertainment Australia as a vehicle for developing emerging local and international country acts.
The Ted Albert Award is named after pioneering independent record producer and Albert Productions founder Ted Albert. Previous recipients include Michael Chugg, Paul Kelly, Michael Gudinski, Denis Handlin, the late Slim Dusty, The Seekers, Lindy Morrison of the Go-Betweens, Fifa Riccobono and last year’s winner Midnight Oil.
This year’s award will be presented at the 2019 APRA Music Awards, scheduled to take place April 30 at Melbourne Town Hall.
